This invention relates to an electronic device utilizing a superconducting material.
Attempts to construct solid electronic devices utilizing superconducting materials such as Nb-Ge series metallic compounds have been made so far. A representative example is the Josephson device which can operate on the basis of tunnel effects in superconducting state. This superconducting device is a two-terminal switching device.
However, since the Josephson device is a two-terminal device, input signals and output signals can not be treated independently and, therefore, no amplifying function is available. Because of this, while the superconducting device can operate at very high frequencies, the device designing is very complicated. Furthermore, there is another shortcoming in that it is inconvenient and difficult to apply for this device the conventional designing procedure which has been highly developed in semiconductor industries.
Furthermore, in case of application of ceramic superconductors to semiconductor integrated circuits, silicon semiconductor surfaces contacting ceramic superconductors tend to be oxidized after long use thereof. This oxidation makes nonconductive the interface between the semiconductor and the superconductor, so that current can not pass therethrough.